Could've Fooled Me
by tschea526
Summary: Spencer and Mona led the girls to their lair after they arrived at the Thornhill Lodge. The girls are completely distraught and betrayed that one of their best friends could do such a thing. Are Spencer's intentions for good reasons, or could she just be fooling them? Mix of 3x24 and 2x25.
1. trust is everything

Aria moaned, straightening up her figure from the slumped-over position she was previously in. Glancing around, her senses coming together, she realized where she was. The backseat of someone's car. Looking to each side of her, Aria saw that she was accompanied by Hanna and Emily. She was trying to remember. How did she get here? What happened? Where's Spencer? Who put the girls into the car? Was she drugged?

Thinking and worrying about her precarious situation, Aria clutched her head in the beginning of a migraine. Even the slightest touch to her head set the pain levels skyrocketing. She tried to open her mouth to scream in pain, and then realized it was duct taped shut. She ripped it off in a heartbeat, and then regretted her decision of how quick she peeled it off.

_I guess next time I'm kidnapped or in my case, -A-napped, I'll know better._ She thought with a small hint of sarcasm.

Besides Hanna and Emily, she was the only one in the car.

_Yup. We are definitely going to be burned alive._

Looking out the window aria noticed where the car was parked. Dead of night at the Lost Woods Resort. Not spooky at all. She remembered she was here the night before. The four of them were there looking for clues that Alison may have left behind when stayed here, possibly staking out –A. All they really have right now is that half of the post card.

Remembering these events, Aria was able to elicit some memory of the evening. She was last one conscious because Emily and Hanna were both out like a light before she was. She could not however, bring back the image of the attacker. All she saw was a flash of brown hair. Or were there two of them? It was coming back all blurry, but she does recall trying to fight whoever it was that knocked out the other two, but was held back in a familiar embrace before it all turned black.

Aria was shaking Emily awake, knowing it would take two or more to get Hanna up, for besides being hit over the head, she was drinking as well. Emily came to before Aria started screaming at her. Emily, being smarter, carefully took off the duct tape from her mouth.

"Aria?" she slurred. "What happened? Where are we? Why does my mouth taste like blood?" she asked feeling her lips, which was split.

"We are at the Lost Woods Resort. I'm pretty sure –A got us. Can you help me out with Han?"

The two girls shifted positions, so that they were both facing her.

"I know this is completely inappropriate, given the circumstances, but I wish –A could have left us with a magic marker."

"Aria." Emily started, annoyed. "You are turning into Hanna. Come on. Let's get her up so we can get the hell out of here."

They started by trying to shake her to wake up, but that was too harmless. Emily kept calling her name, while Aria would shove her.

"Hanna, I'm really sorry about this, but –" Emily said, before slapping her across the face. Aria was in shock that it had no effect on Hanna. Emily only succeeded in putting a red hand mark on her cheek.

"I have an idea, Emily."

Aria braced herself for what she was about to do, knowing the pain that came with it. She gripped an end of the tape that was covering Hanna's mouth, and pulled hard.

Hanna jolted up so quickly, she hit the roof of the unidentified car with her head. She shoved Aria and yelled,

"Aria, god damn! What the hell is –"

Emily cut off her rant by placing her hand over her mouth, which was not taken nicely by Hanna.

"OW! Hanna!" Emily shrieked.

"What is it Emily?"

"She bit me!"

"Hanna, quit it. Look around you!"

Hanna rolled her eyes and looked out the window. She gasped and tensed up, fully realizing what was going on. She looked at Aria and Em with a scared expression, and then looked back out. Hanna saw two hooded figures muttering to each other at the door way to the first motel room, arguing. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she did show the other two girls.

"Oh my God. Is that –A?" Hanna asked almost on the verge of tears.

"I don't know but I'm about to find out." Emily said angrily, about to get out of the car. Aria grabbed her arm before she could have a chance to.

"Aria. Let go of me."

"All I'm doing is keeping you from doing something stupid."

"And all we've been doing is running from the enemy! I am sick and tired of being the victim. It's time to end this once and for all."

"Emily." Aria scolded. "You know –A. They-It-She-He is always a step ahead. Who knows, –A probably has a weapon or something."

"I'm pretty good at running, too."

"Can you run from a bullet?"

Emily slackened and fell back into her seat, still annoyed that she wasn't right.

Hanna grabbed the two other pieces of duct tape and slapped the back on Aria and Emily's mouths. They gave her agitated questioned looks and Hanna whispered,

"They're done talking, and they are coming over. Play dead!" and put her duct tape back on her mouth. The three girls fell limp in their positions, and waited for –A. the two figures got in the car and both slammed their doors, hard. Eyes closed, Aria, Hanna and Emily all interlaced their hands, fearing their lives, and all had the same mutual thought

_If we die tonight, we die together, tonight._

A gruff, woman's voice spoke up, strong but hesitant.

"Are you positive they are unconscious? I could've sworn I heard them talking not just a minute ago."

Their grips tightened together, recognizing the voice. Aria winced because Hanna was almost breaking her hand.

Mona.

The other one replied coldly,

"I'm sure of it. Those bitches are out cold."

Aria was about to throw up. Hanna passed out. Emily let a tear out of her closed eye.

Spencer.

"I'll prove it."

Spencer turned around, her head donned in the infamous black hoodie. She leaned towards Aria, who was trembling in anger trying to hold back everything to keep her act up. Spencer was shaking her to show Mona she was right, while secretly whispering to Aria, so that only she and Emily could hear.

"_Stay_ quiet. Don't move."

That angered Aria even more. How could they trust anything she says?!

"Good." Mona answered. "Keep it that way."

Mona started up the black SUV and pulled out to the dirt path that served as a road, before pulling over and stopping the car.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, Spencer. I need to walk back to the _resort_"

"Why?"

"The princess needs a pee. Is that okay with you Miss Know-It-All?" Mona challenged.

"Sorry." She muttered.

"Watch them. If you pull another stunt… let's just say it would be the last." And with that she exited the car, leaving Spencer to the other three. She turned around, and made sure Mona was out of sight.

"Okay, so we don't have a lot of time –" She started before Emily slapped her. Spencer shot her a quick death glare before continuing.

"As I was saying –"

"How could you do this, Spencer? We are your best friends. Wait scratch that, ex - best friends." Hanna piped up, back to consciousness.

"Will any of you let me finish?!" the three girls became silent.

"Thank you. Now, Mona's going to be back in a few minutes, and when she does, you three are going to be still and silent. I will handle her. She is going to try to get rid of you."

She watched their faces as they scrunched up in a mix of horror and confusion.

"I'm going to take care of her." She finished, eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Why are you helping us?" Aria asked quietly.

Spencer broke out into a huge, 1000-watt smile and said,

"I did it – we, Toby and I, we did it. Infiltrate the system. It will all be over, tonight. I'm sorry I kept this from you three and all, but if I did tell you, Mona would have known and killed us for it. When we get back to town, I will explain everything."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait, Toby is a part of this too?" Emily asked, awestruck.

"I don't have enough time to explain it all right now. I will tell you later. Trust me."

All four of the girls went silent, taking it all in.

"So it's going to be over? All of it?"

"That's right, Em. No more –A."

The girls relaxed a bit, and Hanna asked,

"So how are you bringing down the great Mona Vanderbitch? God, I am so over her."

"Here's what's going to happen, and I'm only going to say it once. Don't try anything, Mona has a gun. If you do, everything will fall apart. When she comes back, go back to your faux – sense of unconsciousness. Here's more duct tape." She explained putting new, fresh pieces on their mouths.

"And when I say _go_," she continued. "You three are going to hold on to something, anything, and each other if you have to, but _stay quiet_. Not a sound. Disregard what I say okay? It's all part of the plan." They all agreed, bobbing their heads in sync.

"Okay, she's on her way over. Get down."

Mona opened the door, and got in.

"Any trouble?"

Spencer cleared her throat to make her voice all high and mighty, yet still monotone.

"The bitches started to wake up, but I took care of it." She said smirking.

_Thanks Spence._

"Good."

Mona started to drive again, smiling at Spencer.

Aria couldn't be more grateful that Spencer would go to these lengths, but still worried about the outcome. If Spencer tries to go after her like she is talking about, Mona has that gun, and Spencer isn't bulletproof. She was astonished that she was planning this, it is pretty genius, but at the same time reckless.

She wouldn't know what to do with her life (if she were to survive.) if she was walking around, knowing that her best friend for _years_ was just playing her. She would have serious trust issues, always afraid that someone is being deceitful. She was so glad Spencer was only fake being on the team, and at the same time, scared out of her mind. But she knew it was a risk any of them would take for another to stop –A once and for all. Aria was swept out of her reverie when Spencer yelled,

"Go!"

And the next moments happened in a flash. Spencer pulled the emergency brake. Mona swerved the car. Emily, being the protective one extended her arms to hold Hanna and aria back from the upcoming collision. The SUV twisted and turned on the slick, muddy road. All the girls screamed. It eventually smashed into a large tree, on Emily's side, but avoided Mona. The windshield shattered. Spencer, after the shock immediately wore off, ran out the car. Mona, quickly thereafter, followed suit, and chased her.

Looking to aria's left, was Emily. Taking a short glance at her, you could tell she was not in good shape. For one, she wasn't waking up. Her left set of limbs were bent at odd angles, and her face and body were badly cut from the broken window glass that came flying through.

"Aria? Are you okay?" Hanna asked. "Oh my God! Emily!"

Aria whipped her head around and joined in on screaming her name. With tears flooding out of both the girls' eyes, they tried to shake her awake, but no response. With shaky hands, Aria reached with two fingers to Emily's throat to find a pulse.

"I- I can't find any - anything! Emily!" Aria choked through heavy sobs.

"No! Emily! Stay with us! Help!"

"Help!" both girls cried.

"Wait, Hanna! I think I feel something! Emily! Can you hear me?"

"Emily!"

She opened her eyes, wincing.

She gasped in pain. "I can't feel- I can't feel my legs." And passed out again.

The two girls were in shock not knowing what to do next, until they heard the blood curdling sound of a gunshot.

Aria and Hanna bolted out of the totaled car, and looked in Spencer and Mona's direction. Spencer was crumpling slowly to the ground, while Mona stood there until she turned around to chuck the gun off the side of the cliff, hoping to get rid of the evidence. Hanna broke off into a sprint towards Mona, screaming at the top of her lungs.

"MONA!" tears were running off her face, but still went after with the full force of a crazy person. "MONA!"

Mona's expression turned from satisfied and relived into terror-stricken and scared stiff to the point where Hanna, full-out tackled her to the ground. Hanna landed on top of her, quickly got to her knees, grabbed the collar of Mona's hoodie and punched her straight across the face. She tried to strangle her too, but Aria was already pulling her off.

Toby came out of nowhere from the trees, and rushed to Spencer's side. He too was dressed in –A-apparel, head to toe in black. He propped himself up next to her, and pulled her frail body into his own. He pulled down the zipper of her hoodie to reveal a simple white t-shirt. A simple white t-shirt, becoming devoid of its natural color from the hemorrhage of her gunshot wound. He was sobbing uncontrollably, mumbling things like _Spencer _or repeating _no _over and over again. Spencer took in a big breath and asked him,

"Did you… call them?"

"They're on their way. Oh Spencer."

"She pulled together a very weak smile and told him,

"I won't let go Toby." She paused. "I love you."

"Me too. So much. I love you so much."

Saying this led Toby into crying even harder. He leaned down to kiss her one last time before she went limp. He was screaming by now, unrecognizable things, by the sound of it. He went silent for a few seconds, then saw Mona out of the corner of his eye getting off the ground, but struggling. He laid Spencer's body like a delicate porcelain doll, and then stood up, his head hung. Toby looked up slowly to Mona, the fire in his eyes burning the hottest, most scathing blue. He started towards her, speed gaining with each step. He picked up a medium-sized branch and continued on. She was in fear and started stepping backwards, and was only a few feet from the edge.

He raised the branch over his head and kept walking. When Mona's back foot stepped too far back she lost her balance and started to tumble down the cliff. She fell like a rag-doll and came to an abrupt stop when her body hit a small tree growing on the side. Hanna and Aria were breaking down, falling to the ground, crying from the double – almost triple whammy of their friends leaving them. Toby also fell to the ground, sitting, and he pulled his legs up to his chest. The three of them were all mourning; shedding tears and wailing, until it was drowned out by upcoming sirens blaring. Hanna and Aria sat on the edge of an ambulance, embracing each other, not wanting to lose each other, after getting a few cuts stitched up from the windows that were smashed in.

"She's alive!" they heard two cops say. The three of their heads shot up and saw officers lifting Mona from off the side of the cliff, and men reporting the same on Spencer.

Mona and Spencer's body were put on stretchers and were quickly being rolled to another ambulance. Toby was being held back by the extra paramedics, as he was trying to get back to Spencer. Fire fighters had to cut parts of the crushed SUV, to dislodge Emily out from the spot that she was wedged in.

"I LOVE YOU! SPENCER, DO YOU HEAR ME? I LOVE YOU!" He shouted, trying to free himself from the burly men. Spencer was already under the narcotics, but Toby swore he saw a dainty smile form on her mouth. He looked over to Emily being rolled into the third EMS vehicle, jogged over and walked alongside her. While the men were prepping the inside of the van, Toby grabbed the hand that wasn't damaged and told her,

"It's going to be alright, Em. I promise. I can't lose you."

Emily's stretcher was lifted, folded then placed into the vehicle's backside. The double doors were shut, and the ambulance pulled out from the scene, following after the two that held Spencer and Mona, leaving Toby, Hanna, Aria and many police officers who wanted answers. the three went through so much that neither of them would very useful to find out to what had happened here. that would just have to wait for tomorrow.

**OKAY. I love the idea for this story and enjoyed writing it so much! One of my favorite parts to it was after Spencer was shot, and Hanna started chasing Mona, tackling her and stuff;) My inspiration for that part was Spencer found "Toby's body" in the woods and started chasing Mona. She was so bad-ass! I also incorporated the part from season two's mid-season finale, when they were all in the police station, and Toby started yelling "I LOVE YOU, SPENCER!" at her.  
**

**Anyways, I hope you loved it! I know I do! I'm going to try and get the last part up either this evening or tomorrow night. Review if you can't wait for the finale! 87 days until season four premiere! #ScratchingMyEyesOut**


	2. URGENT

_**If you are interested in this story, please read! Make sure that you respond as well!**_

I'm really sorry that I haven't uploaded in like forever. I have been working on my other story, Don't Mind Me, which is a lot of work, among other things.

**About the second half of the story.** I'm on a 3-way fence about Spencer. I cant decide if she should still be in critical condition, if everything should be fine (her surgery went through well), or if I should write that she passed away.

I **really** need your response, and please leave other suggestions if you have any.

If you read this, I am grateful! Based on how quick the reviews come in, I will try and get the last chapter up! Thank you so much for reading this story, and if you respond it means a lot to me!


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